feeling humbled

Adam Lea said:

I found out today that someone at work commutes the same journey as me by
bike so I asked him for some advice. I found out that on a racing bike he
has managed the journey (a lumpy 12 miles) in a mere 34 minutes and back in
28 minutes. I now realise my hour in and 50 minutes back is pretty pathetic.

I would love to get my fitness up to that level.

I'll bet he doesn't take the same route with the carry under the
railway and dirt track (or was that someone else).

Still, impressively quick. Well over evens both ways.

...d

Adam Lea said:

I found out today that someone at work commutes the same journey as me by
bike so I asked him for some advice. I found out that on a racing bike he
has managed the journey (a lumpy 12 miles) in a mere 34 minutes and back in
28 minutes. I now realise my hour in and 50 minutes back is pretty pathetic.

I would love to get my fitness up to that level.

So would many racers. That's 23min 20seconds for a lumpy "10" at a
25.7mph average. Either he's very good or being economical with the truth.

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Adam Lea said:

I found out today that someone at work commutes the same journey as me by
bike so I asked him for some advice. I found out that on a racing bike he
has managed the journey (a lumpy 12 miles) in a mere 34 minutes and back
in 28 minutes. I now realise my hour in and 50 minutes back is pretty
pathetic.

I would love to get my fitness up to that level.

So would many racers. That's 23min 20seconds for a lumpy "10" at a
25.7mph average. Either he's very good or being economical with the
truth.

--
Tony

He said that was the fastest he had done it and that it took him two years
to get to that speed. Apparently he says he does the journey faster during
the summer than the winter.

I tried duplicating his journey in the car and even then I took at least 25
minutes and that was doing 30-40mph for most of the journey.

Tony Raven said:

So would many racers. That's 23min 20seconds for a lumpy "10" at a
25.7mph average. Either he's very good or being economical with the truth.

Or it's a very large lump. :-)

R.

"David Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Adam Lea said:

I found out today that someone at work commutes the same journey as me by
bike so I asked him for some advice. I found out that on a racing bike he
has managed the journey (a lumpy 12 miles) in a mere 34 minutes and back
in
28 minutes. I now realise my hour in and 50 minutes back is pretty
pathetic.

I would love to get my fitness up to that level.

I'll bet he doesn't take the same route with the carry under the
railway and dirt track (or was that someone else).

Yes that was me.

He lives further south than me so goes up the A24 rather than via the
station. He also goes via Forest Green which avoids the dirt track but adds
about another kilometer on to the journey.

Quoted message said:

Still, impressively quick. Well over evens both ways.

..d

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Adam Lea said:

I found out today that someone at work commutes the same journey as me

by

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

bike so I asked him for some advice. I found out that on a racing bike

he

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

has managed the journey (a lumpy 12 miles) in a mere 34 minutes and back

in

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

28 minutes. I now realise my hour in and 50 minutes back is pretty

pathetic.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I would love to get my fitness up to that level.

So would many racers. That's 23min 20seconds for a lumpy "10" at a
25.7mph average. Either he's very good or being economical with the

truth.

Quoted message said:

There's a 3rd option:

Adam Lea might work with Alan Holmes.*

Ambrose

*someone who posts fantastical stories about the speeds he reached on his 3
speed roadster back in the 50s. (Once a bloke apprehended me and my brother
as we rode through a local park on an old 1930s tandem we'd got storage of
and talked of his fond memories of "riding on the old [squints down at top
tube to make out manufacturer's label] Suns", and how he "once got from
London to Brighton in an hour"...)

Ambrose Nankivell said:

*someone who posts fantastical stories about the speeds he reached on his 3
speed roadster back in the 50s. (Once a bloke apprehended me and my brother
as we rode through a local park on an old 1930s tandem we'd got storage of
and talked of his fond memories of "riding on the old [squints down at top
tube to make out manufacturer's label] Suns", and how he "once got from
London to Brighton in an hour"...)

I think I met him. Scruffy bloke riding a dodgy mtb in camo gear,
pulled up alongside at some lights and claimed he'd done 80 mph in the
big gale of 1987. Uphill.

R.

"Richard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ambrose Nankivell said:

*someone who posts fantastical stories about the speeds he reached on

his 3

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

speed roadster back in the 50s. (Once a bloke apprehended me and my

brother

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

as we rode through a local park on an old 1930s tandem we'd got storage

of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and talked of his fond memories of "riding on the old [squints down at

top

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

tube to make out manufacturer's label] Suns", and how he "once got from
London to Brighton in an hour"...)

I think I met him. Scruffy bloke riding a dodgy mtb in camo gear,
pulled up alongside at some lights and claimed he'd done 80 mph in the
big gale of 1987. Uphill.

I once freewheeled to 25 mph.

Went out for a quick early morning ride, had to get the train back.

A

Adam Lea said:

He said that was the fastest he had done it and that it took him two years
to get to that speed. Apparently he says he does the journey faster during
the summer than the winter.

I tried duplicating his journey in the car and even then I took at least 25
minutes and that was doing 30-40mph for most of the journey.

It's a top time for a time trial course with no stops, starts, corners,
junctions or hills to deal with, let alone a complex cross country
commute. I'd take his time with a pinch of salt myself. BICBW and HCB
Alan Holmes.

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

"Jim Price" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ambrose Nankivell said:

I once freewheeled to 25 mph.

Went out for a quick early morning ride, had to get the train back.

Did you tow it or put it in the panniers?

Don't be silly, it wouldn't fit in the panniers.

It was the North Berwick line, but fortunately while they were still using
EMUs on it, and not the 5 car class 90 loco hauled sets they were using on
it for a while.

A

Ambrose Nankivell said:

I once freewheeled to 25 mph.

Went out for a quick early morning ride, had to get the train back.

Did you tow it or put it in the panniers?

--

JimP

" " - John Cage

Adam Lea said:

I found out today that someone at work commutes the same journey as me by
bike so I asked him for some advice. I found out that on a racing bike he
has managed the journey (a lumpy 12 miles) in a mere 34 minutes and back in
28 minutes. I now realise my hour in and 50 minutes back is pretty pathetic.

But you would be doing 1 hour 22 minutes less cycling.

With Summer coming, do you really want to ride less?

John B

"John B" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Adam Lea said:

I found out today that someone at work commutes the same journey as me by
bike so I asked him for some advice. I found out that on a racing bike he
has managed the journey (a lumpy 12 miles) in a mere 34 minutes and back
in
28 minutes. I now realise my hour in and 50 minutes back is pretty
pathetic.

But you would be doing 1 hour 22 minutes less cycling.

With Summer coming, do you really want to ride less?

John B

For the purpose of commuting the faster the better. If I can get to work 15
minutes quicker then that's 15 minutes extra time in bed in the morning :-)

The faster I can go on my bike and the less effort it requires per mile, the
more journeys I would do on it so I would not really be riding less.
Ultimately I would like to get to a level of fitness such that any journey I
need to make is feasible on the bike. At this point I could sell the car and
save bundles of cash.

I think I will need to get another bike eventually. I took mine to the local
bike shop and asked if it was possible to make it any more efficient and
they said no. The mudguards I have are also not 100% effective so in wet
conditions I end up splattered with mud, which puts me off cycling in the
rain.

Tony Raven said:

Adam Lea said:

He said that was the fastest he had done it and that it took him two
years to get to that speed. Apparently he says he does the journey
faster during the summer than the winter.

I tried duplicating his journey in the car and even then I took at
least 25 minutes and that was doing 30-40mph for most of the journey.

It's a top time for a time trial course with no stops, starts, corners,
junctions or hills to deal with, let alone a complex cross country
commute. I'd take his time with a pinch of salt myself. BICBW and HCB
Alan Holmes.

I should not stress about it, the guy tells porkies. Useful information
about his character and a warning not to trust him still you know he's
lying and he probably knows you know but I would leave it at that and
not push it with any further questions. After all you still have to
work with him 🙂

Sniper8052

If he's telling the truth, which I doubt, he will get himself killed.
Cycling fast in heavy traffic is downright dangerous as you cannot
react in time to things. Your time is totally reasonable for commuting.

I've commuted on a bike more or less all my life. I've NEVER been
knocked off my bike by a car, though I've often fallen off in leisure
cycling.
Your primary objective is to not get knocked off.

Adam Lea said:

For the purpose of commuting the faster the better. If I can get to work 15
minutes quicker then that's 15 minutes extra time in bed in the morning :-)

The reality is that for a 12 miles commute you are not really going to
do better that 45 +/- 5 mins, depending on weather (particularly wind
direction), traffic, terrain, junctions etc. More if you take an
off-road section on the journey. Some days you'll get a good time,
others a bad time but don't fixate on the time. Your times will improve
with more cycling but it will probably take a year to really build up.

If you are stretching it to that last five minutes in bed and then a
rush to get ready and a race to get in on time, the joy of cycling will
pretty quickly evaporate IME. You need to allow a few extra minutes and
take it at a comfortable pace. You'll save on the cool down time when
you arrive more than you lose on the journey. And if you enjoy the
journey, may be make some detours for variety, you are far more likely
to keep it up.

Just my $).02

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

Quoted message said:

Cycling fast in heavy traffic is downright dangerous as you cannot
react in time to things.

I'd say faster than the traffic. If you're keeping pace you become part of
the traffic flow and it all seems a lot safer. Well, until my lungs
explode and legs fall off anyway.

Adam Lea said:

He said that was the fastest he had done it and that it took him two years
to get to that speed. Apparently he says he does the journey faster during
the summer than the winter.

It's plausible, despite what others say. A best time over two years
will be the time both him and the tailwind were at their best.

Given a good tailwind, I've done that speed sustained over a much
longer distance, and with full camping gear on the back.
But around the same time my ten mile Bath to Bristol commute was
35 minutes - clearly slower than your friend - in normal conditions.

--
not me guv

in message <[email hidden]>, Adam Lea

(') said:

I found out today that someone at work commutes the same journey as me
by bike so I asked him for some advice. I found out that on a racing
bike he has managed the journey (a lumpy 12 miles) in a mere 34 minutes
and back in 28 minutes. I now realise my hour in and 50 minutes back is
pretty pathetic.

I would love to get my fitness up to that level.

Try it on a racing bike. You may find your fitness is considerably better
than you think. A racing bike is, after all, optimised for speed.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; lovely alternative to rice.